Am in recovery after having read "A Place of Greater Safety," the magnificent Hilary Mantel's novel of the French Revolution. A revolution in which every possible thing went horribly wrong, people turned on each other like rats, and mass killings provided popular entertainment. Finally a non-French general ended the gory mess with a coup d'etat and became a dictator.

What went wrong? The French had so much going for them. The Enlightenment. The Philosophes. Enlighted politicians who read the Philosophes, and Locke. An aristocracy nominally interested in reform. A compliant King who consented to becoming a constitutional monarch. Etc.

Why didn't things go this wrong in the American Revolution? Some possible answers come to mind.

We were far away from Europe and its endless wars and plots, the war of 1812 notwithstanding.

We had a basis for good governance based in English law.

We did not have an entrenched nobility. Or an established church.
There were many dicey moments and inter-state squabbling post revolution, but we had a run of luck too. Washington united the nation around his godlike person, slogging from town to town and dutifully prancing down Main Street on his white stallion. Yes, he slept everywhere. He was the nation.

But unlike Napoleon, Washington walked away from power. Other lucky breaks: Madison and the boys cobbled together a constitution. Madison put in the bill of rights over Hamilton's objections. Adams, whose Massachusetts Constitution served as one of the models for the national one, served as an ambassador in England and France.

These days I look at revolts in the Middle East and elsewhere and wonder which way they will tip. Revolution is a scary business, nation building equally so.

Any comments? Please tell me if you know something about this. I'm gonna go read up.